1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a light emitting diode package and a backlight unit having the same. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a light emitting diode package protected from a discharge current of static electricity and a backlight unit having the same.
2. Discussion of the Background
A non-emissive display apparatus such as a liquid crystal display includes a backlight unit to supply a light to a display panel to display an image because the display panel is a non-emissive device. Recently, backlight units employ a light emitting diode package instead of a cold cathode fluorescence lamp to improve color reproducibility while reducing power consumption.
The light emitting diode package may include an LED (Light Emitting Diode), which is a semiconductor device, to generate light in response to an applied driving voltage. The LED operates based on the characteristics of a compound semiconductor by recombining electrons and holes therein to generate light.
However, the LED may be damaged due to a discharge current produced when static electricity is discharged (in general, called electrostatic discharge; ESD), which is called “Electrostatic Destruction”. In generally, in order to protect the LED from the discharge current, the light emitting diode package includes a transient voltage suppressor diode or a zener diode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form any part of the prior art nor what the prior art may suggest to a person of ordinary skill in the art.